These Are The Best Cars For Broke People

We here at Jalopnik are rich in friendship and spirit. Our coffers overflow with good times and great vibes. Of course, that doesn’t mean shit in the real world, but hey, take what you can get.

Things are tough out there, so I asked you to come up with your best recommendations for a car that will reliably get folks to and fro without a lot of expense or hassle. I was surprised to see how many offered up some of the least popular GM products. Someone had to be buying those HHRs, right? Turns out, it was broke people who had no choice.

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Boring answer: anything Toyonda.

Domestic answer: fullsize pickup or oldschool BoF SUV.

Wrong answer: anything flashy that will crush you in maintenance/upkeep/fuel (anything V-8 or German)

and

Depends on what we are considering as the budget here. There are tons of Camry/Accord or Corolla/Civics in my area sub $5k with less than 150k miles. I would say that is a pretty decent price for something that should last you another 150k miles or so with most likely minimal maintenance and repair.

From Saigon_Design, Big Bloc I-4, others

3 / 17

The true broke person’s choice is anything Korean. Think about it — your average Hyundai or Kia still has a depreciation curve that’s a damn sight sharper than anything Japanese, making them relatively cheaper to buy. And for the most part, they last just as long.

From Lando Corinthian the Used Car Dealer, others

4 / 17

Surprised the Honda Fit hasn’t been mentioned, but it’s the obvious answer.

Great fuel economy, very simple to work on/fix, surprising amount of space. That Honda quality, and they’re even fun to drive.=

From DeWayneV8

5 / 17

AngryExWife takes half my pay. I roll on a $1500 motorcycle in rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

from AngryBob-VA

6 / 17

SEDAN

Sedans are not popular at all today. But they used to sell like mad. So, used sedans are available all the damn time for cheap. Went to Atlanta craigslist and found tons of $3k Sedans. Camry, Accord, Altima, Taurus, Subfire, etc.

Some of these are better than others, but the fact that they sold a ton of them in the 2010s and now everyone wants a SUV or a truck makes these the cheapest option generally for a good car for someone that is low on fundage.

And US Sedans tend to be worth extra consideration. They tend to have a lot less miles for the same price and in many cases, the issues they are prone to have are already been fixed.

From hoser68

7 / 17

The 2004+ Toyota Corolla. They’re cheaper than the Civics of that era, have the single most reliable engine probably ever built, and they made so many of them you can still find them with relatively low miles. They require virtually nothing other than regular oil and filter changes and easy and cheap brake jobs for maintenance. They have common tire sizes, have the latest safety features (except the backup cameras), have a stereo that’s brainless to replace with an upgraded unit giving you all the latest options (like that backup camera), and they’re cheap as dirt. I had 3 of them when I was very poor and had a 120 mile round trip commute to the city I couldn’t afford to live in. I recommend them to every newer driver since they’re still easy-ish to find with a manual too. On top of all that, I was hit by drunk drivers twice, which completely totaled two of them, and I walked away just fine. It is definitely the epitome of “nothing special” and boring to drive, but if reliable, cheap transportation is what you crave, these are the car to have.

and

I love that one of the best known defects on that era Corolla/Matrix/Vibe is that the odometer gets stuck at 299,999.

From DansDrives and Maymar

8 / 17

They’re a little old now, but the real secret answer used to be Geo Prism. It was literally just a rebadged Corolla with none of the badge cache or recognition. I had one for a few years in my early 20s and it was awesome. Oil changes and that’s it. Beat on it and still got over 30 mpg.

Kinja won’t let me add a photo for some reason.

From WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4

9 / 17

Is the answer no longer LeSabre? For the last couple of decades, the answer to “I need something reliable and cheap” has been a used Buick. They sold a crapload of LeSabres to people who largely didn’t drive them, maintaining an ample supply of Buicks with low-for-the-year mileage.

I reckon a used Buick is still a good bet for value, but they haven’t made the LeSabre in so long that most LeSabres are on their third or seventh owner by now, and are showing wear commensurate with their low prices. The 3800 is still reliable, and cheap to repair when it’s not.

If I needed a car to get me from A to B and I didn’t care what kind of car, I’d be looking at used Buicks.

From smalleyxb122

10 / 17

I have the actual answer, from experience. I actually, literally now drive a 2002 Toyota Echo with 160k miles and peeling paint. The Echo is genuinely ugly and too narrow. But because of that, you don’t pay the Toyota premium.Or at least, not with money. You pay in dignity. And, maybe, some joy. But if you haven’t got money, dignity is your currency.That said, it’s stupendously reliable, its tires are less than $100 a pop, it’s a stick (thank goodness), and it gets well over 30 mpg.Truth be told, it does grow on you.Does it have an armrest? Does it have cruise control? No, and no. But I can take the hundred dollar bills I save over driving my old GTI the 150 mile plus round trip to work I do every other day, and just sort of dab the tears from my eyes. Those long stretches of highway were a waste of GTI joy, anyway.

This is the right car if you’re broke. Get the real tangible benefits, and just smile and own the fact that you’re broke. It’s goofy enough looking, you pass from shame into irony. Wear it with pride, for half a million miles.

From MormonLawyerBajaBugLincolnTownCarGolfTDI_hadMk5GTI_Now4clCamry

11 / 17

If you can find a 3rd Gen Prius with under/at 100,000 miles for near/at 10,000...it feels like a good buy as an only vehicle with good fuel economy and reliability. Plus most people are surprised how much stuff they can swallow up, especially with the back seats down.

From Levi1922

12 / 17

Four year old Mitsubishi Mirage. It has bottomed out on depreciation, so it is cheap, but it is still Japanese so there are no major car health issues to be found in it other than being cheap and slow. That also means it is cheap to insure, if you have to, and won’t guzzle the gas. Plus nobody is going to want to steal it or break into it, so you can leave it parked up without too much worry.

From skeffles

13 / 17

Avoid the Nissan Leaf or really any early 2010s EV. A truly poor person isn’t likely to live where there’s good public transportation. Where I live, available public transportation is a selling point for landlords to charge higher rent! So, a car that can’t go further than ~40 miles and takes hours to charge is just limiting your own mobility without good reason.

Anyway, I’d get the cheapest car with the best track record for reliability. A 2000 Toyota Camry is hardly exciting, but it happily get you to and from wherever you need to go.

Something my wife and I learned is that a GM Delta platform car is also in this category. A base Saturn Ion and a base Chevy HHR will keep going long after the Midwest does its damage.

From Mercedes Streeter

14 / 17

The Buick Lucerne with a 3.8l engine.

Because it’s a Buick, it’s dirt cheap since nobody wants to look like a grandpa. You know who doesn’t care about looking like a grandpa though? Poor people.

Besides, old people are cool as hell anyway (I don’t understand why GM doesn’t lean into the cool old person image for buick)

The old answer was the LeSabre. I had a LeSabre get me through my brokest college years.

Those were bullet proof and you saw them in poor neighborhoods forever. However they’re just so old now that they can’t be relied upon. The Lucerne was a good replacement for it and if you get one with a 3.8l engine, it’s often even more reliable than the LeSabre it replaced.

From TheBeeMan

15 / 17

The car i owned at one time to save money was a Pontiac Vibe. Its cheap because pontiac is out of business. Its reliable because its not made by pontiac, its a Toyota Corolla hatchback. The first gen was light and fun to drive. I got the base model with manual everything including locks and windows. Its the most reliable car out there. And the interior is very durable. Plastic lined cargo area, and fabric that withstands little kids. Its like getting a honda fit with more power, more space, more cargo room, and a more durable interior for a lot less money. If you want something a little more fun get the GT which has a 170hp 1.8L that revs to 8000rpm with a 6speed manual. These cars have great suspension too so light wheels, tires, and a rear sway bar and they have impressive handling. But the base model is the way to go so having a car where nothing will break and you can use 87 octane

From boneheadotto

16 / 17

Something old people-friendly and generally sturdy (think 3800-powered Buick LaCrosse). It might be a little scraped or dented, but they’ll largely have kept up on maintenance and not really abused it. But, if it’s perilously unfashionable, it also won’t be worth much, which works in your favour.

and

Anything with a Buick 3800. They are the cockroaches of the automotive world, as long as you address the plastic intake allowing coolant to leak into the engine oil problem. Ask my sister about that one. Her free LeSabre is sitting in the driveway with a rod knock because she didn’t fix it in time.

Along with Martin, Dutch Gunderson, Lana and Sally Decker and Maymar

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